QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Indigenous Services
Residential Schools
May 7, 2026
My next question comes from conversations that Senator Arnot and I had with the Anishinabek Nation a few weeks ago. I’ll raise two issues that they flagged with us.
First, it has been over 550 days since Kimberly Murray, Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools, presented her final report to the Minister of Justice. What is the government doing to respond to her report?
Second, communities are really concerned about the preservation of Indian residential school records. Records connect families to their loved ones and help combat growing denialism. Shouldn’t these records be preserved? Is the government exploring anonymizing the records to help preserve them?
Thank you. In terms of your second question, this falls under the purview of my colleague Minister Alty. I am more than willing to bring this question forward to her. It is one that is very important and very sensitive. We do want to honour and acknowledge the work that was done by Special Interlocutor Murray because it is one that is very sensitive, and we want to ensure that we do no further harm in this space because it is an area where not only was a lot of work done but we were able to work with Survivors in a way that they were able to bring forward information that should really shape how we move forward in acknowledging and realizing the impact of residential schools in Canada as a whole.
